Notley excited over Monday's 'historic' throne speechBack to video

“It’s going to be a very optimistic, forward-looking throne speech,” she told reporters in Edmonton. “I am very happy with it actually. I think it’s quite inspirational and it’s going to speak to the values that we talked to Albertans about throughout the campaign.”

The speech, to be read by newly installed Lt.-Gov. Lois Mitchell, will kick off a shortented session of the legislature made necessary after the Tories called a May 5 election before passing their provincial budget.

The election led to an upset victory for the NDP, which now has 53 seats, compared with 21 for the Wildrose, nine seats for the PCs, one each for the Liberals and Alberta Party, along with one Independent MLA.

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Government House Leader Brian Mason said there will be several pieces of legislation tabled, but the most important will be an interim supply bill that will enable the government “to keep writing cheques.”

But Bill 1 — the first bill introduced by a new government in 44 years — “will fulfil a small part of the government’s platform for democratic reform,” said Mason, who also serves as the infrastructure and transportation minister.

Many Albertans expect the bill will ban corporate and union political contributions, but Mason would not confirm it.

“There’s a lot of things that could be considered there,” he said. “Of course, we have always been opposed to corporate and union donations for funding politics.”

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Mason noted other jurisdictions have limits on spending and third-party advertising, but his government hasn’t made any decisions yet.

He did say the government won’t be introducing legislation that would result in taxpayers subsidizing political parties by paying cash for each vote cast in their direction.

“No decision has been made on that,” said the Edmonton MLA. “I don’t think it is part of our platform.”

Tory Leader Ric McIver is opposed to eliminating union and corporate donations, saying it would create less transparency than the current disclosure system.

“Those people running unions and corporations who want to donate to a government will have to find other avenues to do it, rather than do it directly,” he said.

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The Calgary-Hays MLA also opposes any per-vote subsidy, saying “the most destructive thing in the world is making voters finance a campaign for a party that they may not believe in.”

Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark said he’s expecting to see democratic reform from the Notley government, with a move to ban union and corporate donations entirely.

He doesn’t want to see a per-vote subsidy introduced as part of campaign finance overhaul — similar to what was put in place federally after contribution limits were put into place by the Chretien government.

But Liberal Leader David Swann thinks a vote subsidy makes sense, and would help smaller parties build a foundation.

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“It’s a recognition that the public has an interest in seeing democracy flourish,” Swann said.

He wants the NDP to live up to its promise to ban corporate and union donations, and limit the size of total contributions.

He also wants to see a broader carbon fee discussed, new legislation to protect farm workers, and an independent review of appointments to government agencies, boards and commissions.

“There is a high expectation that this government will move on some of the things that they’ve been talking about — and ostensibly committed to in their platform — and now must deliver on,” he said.

Derek Fildebrandt, Wildrose finance critic, said Friday he is worried about the mixed signals the NDP government is sending about the state of the province’s finances and he wants it to lay out a clear picture.

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“We believe full information must be released on the true state of Alberta finances, including the revenue shortfall, Alberta’s total debt and the true size and scope of the budget,” he told reporters at the legislature. “Simply put, we cannot sign off on billions of dollars of new spending without knowing how much red ink the government will be running up in the process.”

McIver doesn’t expect much from the NDP, and that could be a good thing.

“Actually, I think there’s very low expectations. I’ve talked to a lot of Albertans that are scared to death over losing their job or their business because of what this government has threatened to do,” said the former jobs and labour minister. “So I think that the government actually producing less of what they promised will probably be good for Alberta, because what they promised is largely harmful.”

Clark, the fledgling Alberta Party’s first elected MLA, said he’s expecting political debate in the province to improve now that a new government is taking over after 44 years of PC rule.

“I’m hoping we have a chance to elevate the discourse in the legislature. We’ve got a lot of new people and a brand new government,” he said.

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